Hi,
Does anyone out there have any tips/tricks on how to quickly get the remaining water drops off the camera lens right after pulling it from the water?
Sometimes I'll grab the camera from the rinse tub to take pics on the boat or take pics right after climbing on the boat or just after surfacing. The water spots in the shots are not a desired effect :-\
How about a chamois, soft absorbant towel or maybe blow it off by purging your second stage holding the mouthpiece up to the housing lens. Not sure if that would work well or not but maybe worth a try.
I heard RainX works well to shed water of the lens.
Here are some references from the 'net.
Stephen Frink on over/under shots:
Advocates using Rain-X, but doesn't clarify whether it's ok for acrylic ports.
Scubaboard post with some technical detail:
Mentions that Rain-X will eventually fog or crack acrylic, but it's ok for glass. Something called RVR should be safe for acrylic.
Other people suggest using mask defog, licking the port, or using baby shampoo. I'd be leery of anything on my acrylic port other than soap. Maybe it's time for a glass port.
I have heard that baby shampoo works well. I have talked to folks that use RVR rain repelent-and like it. I would suggest asking the housin mfg. before using anything other than soap.
Thanks for all the info so far!!
My question was in regards to the lens port of a L&M Video Camera housing. I would think the lens is glass, but not sure, will have to check.
Those 50/50 shots are tough, water droplets have been the last of my concerns there! Yet the article was very informative - thanks for passing it along.
A good example of my use-case is finishing a dive and then grabbing the camera to tape other divers, antics on the boat/beach etc. So right now I'm leaning towards a chamois/cleaning cloth approach which has the benefit of getting any remaining film off the lens.
I wish I knew I could use Rain-X for sure. I would think that stuff would stay bonded for such a long time it would really be practical. And that would solve the 2nd problem, filming above water. I have a couple fun shots/clips looking straight up the rock formations at Land's End. Unfortunately a few big water droplets decided to get in the photo too.
I was hesitant to the 2nd stage / LP air approach at first (possibly driving particles at glass) however I'm probably just being overly concerned. Also, in certain cases I may not be close to my 2nd stage or my gear may already be broken down so that brings me back to some type of cleaning cloth I guess?
This is cool, so far more ideas than I had expected!
I thought I'd follow up with a post-trip report regarding this original question.
I was hesitant to use Rain-X on the enclosure port/lens this go around although I believe it is glass and would be safe.
Before my trip I walked into a local auto parts store looking for a chamois. While there I noticed this simple soft cloth for cleaning windshields. I think it was about $3 for a two-pack. I'm not sure what the material is, ironically its probably the same thing any high quality tee-shirt is made of
Anyway, this worked quite well. In the hotel room, just dampen a corner with water, wipe the lens/port clean and then use the dry portion to dry it with no spots.
On the boat I bring it with in the dive bag. As soon as I get back on the boat and gear down and I'm not in the way I grab the camera and the rag. Wipe the lens dry (its already clean). Then I wipe the inside of the lens cap/cup dry too. Then put on the lens cap and drop it all back in the tub. The nice part is that water doesn't get past the lens cap/cup while sitting in the rinse tub. So at any point on the boat I can grab the camera, pull the lens cap and the lens will be dry w/no water spots. Worked great and always comes back to the hotel room clean and dry.
There were no water spots (this time) in any of the boat or land shots taken while the camera was in the enclosure.